Face and eye shield



May 3U, 1950 w. EVANS 2509,68()

FACE AND EYE SHIELD Filed Jan. 18, 1945 4 sheets-sheet 1 Willie Evans nven Tor May 30, 1950 Y w. EVANS FACE AND EYE SHIELD V 4 Sheets-sheet 2 Filed Jan. 18, 1945 May 30, 1950 W EVANS 2,509,680

FACE AND EYE SHIELD Filed Jan. 18, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 May 3U, 1950 W EVANS 2,509,680

FACE AND EYE SHIELD Filed Jan. 18, 1945 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Will/e EVQVIS n venbr Patented May 30, 1950 FACE AND EYE SHIELD Willie Evans, London, England Application January 18, 1945, Serial No. 573,342 In Great Britain January 25, 1944 6 Claims.

This invention relates to face and eye shields for use in industrial operations, such as welding operations, in which the face requires to be shielded from flying molten metal particles, and the eyes to be protected from excessive glare, and relates to the kind of shield provided with a handgrip or head-band, and a window mounting from which the window material may be readily removed.

According to this invention, a face shield comprises a mask portion adapted to cover the face of the wearer and having an opening formed therein opposite the eyes, guideways flanking said opening, a tinted window slidably mounted in said guideways, a rotatable member carried by a part of the mask and having an eccentric part adapted to engage directly against the lower edge of the window, and means for rotating said member. For example, the eccentric means may comprise a crank arm on said rotatable member adapted -to engage the lower edge of the window. Preferably, stop means are provided for limiting the movement of the crank arm a short distance beyond the upper dead centre so that the weight of the glass on the arm retains it against said stop. This action may be assisted by spring means adapted yieldingly to resist the upward movement of the tinted glass. The mask may either be provided with a head-band attached to the inside thereof or with a hand-grip. In the latter case, said rotatable member may be mounted on said hand-grip. A clip may be provided on the hand-grip for holding the m-anipulating member in a `position with the glass in front of the eyes. Preferably, the mask is provided with a frame around the opening, in which frame is mounted a clear glass and the tinted window is slidably mounted in guideways so as to move over the clear glass. Preferably, when the tinted window is out of the line of vision, it still remains in overlapping relationship with the clear window, and adjustable means may be provided for engaging the face of the tinted window, preferably opposite the overlapping area.

The following is a description of two embodiments of the invention as applied to a welders shield, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is an elevation of the rear side of a shield, having a hand-grip within the shield;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Figure l Figure 3 is a similar View to Figure 1 showing an alternative form of construction, and

Figure 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Figure 3.

The main body lll of the shield may be formed Afrom plastic sheet material which is bent to a shape to cover the head of the operator. A handgrip I I is secured in a central position within the lower part of the shield. The front wall I3 of the shield is provided with a substantially rectangular opening I4, and, as will be seen from Figure 2, a frame l5 is secured to the outer face of the front wall opposite the opening. The lower part I6 of the frame is arranged to obscure the lower part of the opening. The frame itself is provided with an opening Il, and the flanges i 8 around this opening are recessed to receive a clear window material I9, such as glass. The lower part I6 of the frame is also recessed at 20 and is further recessed at 20', leaving a cross-bar 2i extending over the recess 20 but not over the recess 20. The sides of the recess 20 are spaced outwardly of the sides of the recess 20 and extend up to the sides of the opening .M Runways 22 are thereby formed for guiding the sides of the tinted window material hereinafter described as it slides down into and up out of the recess 20.

In Figures l and 2, a tinted window material 23 is shown face to face with the clear material I9, having been elevated into this position by mechanical manipulating means comprising a cranked member 24 rotatably mounted in the hand-grip Il, and for this purpose being provided with a transverse portion 25 which is retained in a slot in the handle 25 by a cover-plate 2E. The upper stretch of the crank is bent over at 21 and is arranged to engage the lower edge of the tinted window material 23. The other end 28 of the crank member is arranged to swing outwardly from the right-hand side of the handgrip Il, so as to be readily manipulated by the operators left thumb, but in the lowermost position enters a recess 4| in the side of the handgrip and is snapped into a U-shaped spring clip 42. In this position the other end of the crank member may be arranged to swing past dead centre so that the weight of the window material tends to maintain the end 28 in the clip. It may be readily detached from the clip, however, by manipulating the exposed part of the crank member. When the tinted window material is lowered by the crank member, it slides over the cross-bar 2l and directly down along the runways 22 until it is housed behind the portion I6 of the frame. The tendency of the tinted window material to swivel about an axis normal to the plane of the window while being raised may be countered by a spring 23a connected at one end to the shield and at the other end to a clip 29 which engages the top of the tinted window material.

It will be noted from Figure 2 that the upper marginal portion of the frame l5 is arranged bel yond the upper edge of the opening I4 in the shield, so as to provide an overlying portion 30, which together with the flange I8, retain the upper marginal portions of the clear window material and tinted window material in position. The lower edges, however, can be tilted towards the operator when it is required to remove them from the frame, but they are normally retained in position by lever arms 3l which are pivoted at 32 to the shield so that they may be swung opposite the side marginal edges of the window material. When the tinted window material is lowered, however, it is retained in position by portions 33 of the shield which overhang the side flanges of the frame. The bottom wall I6 of the frame is recessed at 3G for accommodating the end of the crank member when theV tinted window material is in its lowermost position. Instead of the crank member being mounted on the handle it might be mounted in a suitable bearing secured to the inner face of the shield.

The arrangement shown in Figures 3 and 4 differs from that described above, in that the hand-grip is replaced by a head-band 35 secured within the shield. and the crank-member 2dV is replaced by a lever arm 35 mounted on a spindle 3l which extends through the lower part of the frame i5 and is provided on the outside of the shield with a manipulating knob 38. The 1ower edges of the shield and frame l5 are cut away at 39 to accommodate the lever 36 when it is in its retracted position, and thev cut-away portion provides a shoulder 40 limiting the upward swing of the lever arm, but permits the swing beyond dead centre. The lever arm may be maintained against the shoulder by a bow spring 48 which engages the upper edge of the tinted window material when the Window approaches the upper limit of its travel. Apart from this, the two constructions are similar.

In the arrangement shown in Figures 3 and 4, the head-band may be pivotally attached to blocks 41 on the shield by a pivot pin 4I and the shield may beretained by detente 42 on the headband which are engageable with either of two sets of recesses 43 or i4 on the block el' and retained in either of two positions by a spring G6. In one position the window isV in iront of the eyes of the wearer, in the other position the shield is entirely clear of the face.

I claim:

1. A face shield comprising a mask portion adapted to cover theface of the wearer and having an opening formed therein opposite the eyes, guideways flanking said opening, a tinted window slidably mounted in said guideways, a hand-grip secured to the inside of said mask, a rotatable member'mounted on said hand-grip, a crank arm on said rotatable member adapted to engage the lower edge of the window, a manipulating member mounted on said rotatable' member within the mask.

2. A face shield comprising a mask portion adapted to cover the face of the wearer and having an opening formed therein opposite the eyes, guideways iianking said opening, a tinted window slidably mounted in said guideways, a hand-grip secured to thev inside of said mask, a rotatable member mounted on said hand-grip, a crank arm on said rotatable member adapted to engage the lower edge of the window, a manipulating member mounted on said rotatable member within the mask, and stop means on said hand-grip adapted to engage the manipulating member when said crank has passed the top dead centre.

3. A face shield comprising a mask portion adapted to cover the face of the wearer and having an opening formed therein opposite the eyes, guideways anking said opening, a tinted window slidably mounted in said guideways, a, handgrip secured to the inside of said mask, a rotatable member mounted on saidhand-grid a crank arm on said rotatable member adapted to engage the lower edge of the window, a manipulating member mounted on said rotatable member within the mask, stop means on said hand-grip adaptedV to engage the manipulating member when said crank has passed the top dead centre, and a clip on the hand-grip for holding the manipulating member in the latter position.

4. A face shield comprising a mask portion adapted to cover the face of the wearer and having an opening formed therein opposite the eyes, a frame around said opening, a clear window mounted against sliding mover-ment` in'lsaid frame, guideways flanking and also extending below said open-ing, a tintedi window slidably mounted? in said guideways' over the clear window, aiot'atable member carried by a part of said'` mask and having an eccentricV part adapted to engage di'- rectly against the lower' edge of the window and to move it out of the line of vision to a` position where it still overlaps the clear window, and means for rotating said member, which opening above the guideway is of greater width` than` the windows so that they can be removed from within the frame, and retractable window-retaining means for engaging the face of the tinted window within said opening. Y

5. A face shield comprising a mask portion adapted to' cover the face of the wearer andi having an opening formed therein opposite the eyes, a frame around said opening, a clear window mounted against movement in said frame, guideways iianking said opening, a tinted windowy slidably mounted in said guideways over the clear window, spring means adapted to engage the upper edge of said tinted window, arotatable member carried by a part of said mask and having an eccentric part adapted to engage the lower edge of the window and move it into thev line of vision against the action of said spring means.

6. A face shield comprising a mask portion adapted to* cover the face of the wearer andhaving a front wall and' an opening through said frontwal'l; a frame secured to the outer face of said iront wall: over said opening; a window opening in said frame of smaller size than said r'st'- mentioned opening; a clear window insaid window opening, said window beingY withdrawable through said first-mentioned opening; guideways in said frame flanking the' window opening therein and extending below said window opening; a tinted window slidably mounted onsaid guideways over said clear window; an actuating member for said slidably mounted tinted window having an eccentric part engaging the lower edge of said window; and retractable window-retaining means located inside said mask portion and normally retaining said tinted window in slid-- able engagement with said guideways.

WILLIE EVANS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the iile of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number NameV h Date 1,990,369 Boyd Feb. 5, 1935 2,650,939 Fairfield In Aug, 11, 1936 2,343,864 Hebeler Mar. 14, 1944 

